BiTN: First Book Shay Edmund
by Luciole-leSolange
Summary: New target I want trailed. Completely immune to a psychic reading. Possibly enhanced senses as well. Track and investigate."--- Shay, is a vampire. Don't let her catching you calling her that though, she much prefers "blood-sucker"
1. Chapter 1

BitN: Shay's Story

Kaji casually flipped up the collar of his coat to protect against the biting hail. It was a horrible night in North City. Hail the size of golf balls all day. At least there had been no reports of "official" business during this mess. He had the night off.

He fumbled with his keys trying to unlock the door of his small black Lexus. In the dark it was hard to see and he hated scratching the paint. The hail was murdering his gorgeous car.

He jammed the key into the lock and twisted. It broke off in the locked position. Dark alley, hail coming down, soaking wet, locked out of his car. What else could go wrong?

Stupid question.

Shay had just got off early from work. It was only about 9:30 P.M. but the storm that had been plaguing the city all day was still at it and made it dark as midnight. But in all truth, she didn't mind one bit, the hail did hurt a little but Shay absolutely adored the blackness of tonight and rain didn't bother her.

Walking toward her apartment on the other side of town she noticed a man, soaking wet fumbling with his keys and grumbling to himself. She choked back a laugh and approached him from behind poking him on the shoulder, "Hey, guy, you need some help?"

Kaji's senses tingled at the intruder. He hadn't heard her coming or felt her presence. It was like there was nothing there. Not even surface thoughts.

"The key broke off." He sighed.

"Hm... I doubt you could get a locksmith at this time of night." She wondered why she was even bothering to help him. He was just some random guy, but it was getting late and she would have a guilty conscious in the morning if she just left him.

"My apartment is just up the street if you want to wait for someone to pick you up. Or whatever. Your pick." She grumbled as she hit herself for even asking why she was helping someone. 'This is going to bite me in the ass.'

Alarms in his head went off. Every alarm. Bad idea. Get out, get backup, come back later to clean up. That was his training talking.

"Thanks for the offer and though it pains me to do it..." Kaji bashed his elbow against the quarter glass of the front window. "It... really pains me..." He tried again. "Ow." Stupid reinforced glass.

Shay was abashed. She understood that she wasn't the most innocent looking girl but to smash your own window to avoid being around her?

Was she really that scary? Could he tell she was different?

She really, really shouldn't have bothered with this guy.

Kaji glanced around the alley while rubbing his bruised elbow. He could probably break the glass with the grip of his pistol but that would just freak the girl out. He hated hail.

"There's a restaurant not far from here. I think I'll wait there for a tow truck."

She snorted, "I don't get why you would try to break a window open with your elbow when you have a perfectly fine gun on you."

It was pretty apparent and he probably didn't pull it out because he didn't want to 'frighten the wittle girlie'. Shay didn't really have a fondness for the opposite sex for quite a while, especially masochistic males.

"I'll see you," she grumbled in parting.

"Fair enough. Take care." Kaji dismissed her.

He pulled out his slim cell phone and punched in the numbers for a local tow truck agency waiting on her to leave.

'Arrogant prick.' This was the reason why she hated men. All men. Not just a few, but all of them. They all thought she was a 'little girl' and that she was creepy.

Shay continued her way home and felt her stomach grumble. She groaned as she thought of the microwave lasagna just waiting for her in the freezer!

To hell with men, she had food!

As soon as the strange girl was out of sight he hung up and redialed BitN headquarters.

"New target I want trailed. Completely immune to a psychic reading. Possibly enhanced senses as well. Track and investigate." He let the locator beacon he had placed on her while faking his elbow injury end the message.

"Yes I'll follow up on it later." He replied.

Shay finally reached home after another two blocks, 'Ok, maybe the rain is a little more annoying than I thought.' She was completely soaked from head to toe and just wanted food, a hot bath and bed.

It was then that she finally looked at her calendar. Shit.

It was the new moon tonight, no wonder she was so damn hungry. 'Why tonight? It's still too early to go out hunting and I really wasn't in the mood...' Shay started to think about the Lexus guy, "To bad I didn't remember... I could've just fed early..."

She groan again as she prepared for the night hunt.

Next morning:

Kaji yawned lazily.

"What's up for today?" He asked his mobile holographic interface.

"You are to follow up on that tracking case from last night and investigate reports of vampiric activity downtown." The tiny round device reported.

"Vampires? What section of downtown?" He asked.

"22 Acacia Avenue"

"That's near that bar I was at last night. Wonder if the girl is alright?"

He got out of bed and started to get ready for the day.

Shay was still deep asleep drooling on her pillow after that nights hunt. It had gone well and she had managed to find a thief looking for the next pocket to pick. Sometimes men's horny thoughts came in handy, especially when it came to feeding.

She honestly didn't like killing humans but she had no choice. Shay had tried to go without blood for over a month and almost died because of it. From that point on she decided to only kill people that the world could happily live without.

With a snort and grunt Shay startled awake and for some reason thought of the man with the Lexus. Why did he bother her so much?

Kaji straightened his tie as he waited at the red light. His car engine purred softly and the AC caused his hair to gently wave. It was bright and shiny today and it managed to make even the dank depressing little alley somewhat cheerful.

He was nearing a set of apartments where the killing occurred. Local police noted the body seemed severely dehydrated and had strange puncture wounds on its neck. A sleazy ex-convent with a record of petty thievery. No one the world would miss.

"Curious."

Prowling through the freezer for the lasagna she was going to eat last night, Shay couldn't stop thinking about that man. Something about him made her skin crawl and she realized that she felt threatened by him.

"Why would a stupid human be a threat to me?" Shay decided to just stop thinking about it and watch her favorite show, Death Note.

"L is so cute…"

Kaji stopped by the coroner's office to examine the body. Pudgy, grey, smelling of brimstone, pair of pristine puncture wounds in the neck... looked vampiric enough. Kaji flipped open his phone and put in a call.

"Mizu, cross check our vampire database for section 11 downtown. Anything that might have sired a new vamp?"

"Nothing apparent." His partner's voice replied.

"What about our tracker last night?"

"Was in the area at the time. Eagle eyes place her at Range Apartments right now... watching TV."

"Video?"

"There was a camera set up, we haven't retrieved it yet."

"Guess that's my next stop. Who's on call?"

"Ran."

"I'll go alone." He said quickly.

Shay yawned sleepily again, "It's only 10 a.m.! Why am I up so early my shift doesn't start until 7..." She signed in annoyance and stared at the clock willing for it to go faster.

"I will just have to go out today and actually do something!" She announced to no one in particular, except for her pudgy cat, Fang, who was currently rubbing up against her legs.

10:00 a.m. rush hour.

Kaji took a cab back to the pub.

Shay took a quick shower, grabbed her purse and took off from her house. She had no idea what she was going to do today but she badly needed out of the house.

"I need… some… ice cream!" And with that, Shay made her way to the ice cream parlor across the city.

Kaji decided to take the next hour or so off once he reached the pub. He didn't like the busy parts of the day. He felt vulnerable.

He ordered a Scotch neat.

As Shay made her way through the city, she passed by the city's pub and low and behold, that man was there. Seeing him again got her blood boiling and her senses more aware. Shay decided that she would go order a beer. She would find out who he was and why she felt threatened by him. She entered the bar and sat down right next to him.

Shay growled lowly so only he could hear, "Why do you make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up?"

"I know you?"

"I'm the chick that tried to help you last night if you have such a short memory. Your welcome" Shay grunted at the ignorant man next to her, "Now answer my question, what are you."

"A cop."

Shay growled angrily at the supposed 'cop'. All she could think about was why she even was bothering with this guy, in the end she decided that it really wasn't worth it and got up to leave.

"Ok then, copper, I'll see you." Shay quickly hurried out the bar's door and continued on her way to the ice cream parlor determined to wipe this stupid little encounter from memory.

"What was that all about?" He wondered.

Kaji pulled his collar tighter around his shoulders and hugged his warm coffee.

Nom Nom Nom… Shay very much enjoyed Rocky Road ice cream even on cold days like today. The cold never really bothered her much nor did the dark. She continued to munch on her snack and pondered about what she could do today.

"Target located." He reported.

"Tail her." The daily lookout told him.

"Easier said than done. She's made me."

"Use your 'masculine charm.'" The voice over the radio chuckled.

"Remind me to take you out to lunch sometime. A nice poisonous plate of puffer fish maybe."

'I think… that I will have to go to the library today…" Shay pondered aloud to no one in particular. She had wanted to go and have some free time to read her manga but had not gotten the chance to since she started her job at the bar.

She finished her ice cream and started the mile walk to the city library.

Kaji followed her to the library. He buried his face in a book. Something about hot blooded California girls.

He was getting ready to "bump into" her when something big hairy and ugly walked in. A troll in human clothes. He smelled of blood and wild mojo.

Shay sat herself down in the graphic novels section of the library and picked up her favorite anime, Death Note. All of a sudden she felt an evil presence and she could smell that man again that she had tried to help before.

"What the fuck is going on…" She grumbled from her face behind a book, "I just want to have a nice, quiet day to be a nerd-geek…"

She set down the anime and peeked around the corner to see a huge… something not human and that man staring at it like he was in shock. 'What the fuck…'

"When did we get trolls in town?" Kaji checked in with home office.

"Shouldn't have any... lemme check the underground channels... standby." The watcher said.

"We should really issue nose plugs standard in field kits." Kaji complained.

The troll sat down in the biology section...

"Ew… Is that a… Troll???" Shay had never seen one outside of her comics and manga but this would be what one looked and… smell like! She plugged her nose and decided just to go back home. Today was too weird of a day for her to be out.

She quickly grabbed the newest manga and ran to check it out from the library then went on her way back to her apartment as fast as she could allow.

"Ah hell... I missed the original mark." Kaji muttered.

"Hey, mon, you know how to spell mobile trocho-ginglymus?" The hairy man/troll asked.

His breath could rot cheese.

"Try 'ball joints.'" Kaji suggested and hastily retreated.

She finally got in her apartment, a normally half hours walk condensed into just 10 minutes. 'I really should've just left that guy alone! Really!' Shay groaned to herself. She looked around and checked her apartment for anything unusual but didn't find anything out of place so she settled down on her cozy couch to read.

"Trackers and eagle eyes put the first mark in her apartment." Home watcher responded.

"Good. Send those videos from last night to my desk and I'll check them out this afternoon and put someone on this troll. I don't know what he wants to know about human joints but trolls like to eat parts of humans. Like ears."

Kaji flipped his cell phone closed and signaled a taxi to take him back to the office.

After a short day break, a hot bath to wash away the troll smell, and some high caffeine mocha chinos Kaji returned to his desk to scroll over all the information his cronies at the BitN headquarters had dug up. It was not much. Some interesting videos they had no business taking though... what was with that blue bathroom scene?

Shay kept feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand up as if she was being watched. She couldn't shake this feeling since the run in with that… GUY! First he doesn't want her help, then he just ignored her, and now he was following and possibly watching her?

Stalker much?

Deciding to do another sweep of the house for spyware, Shay put down her manga and started in the bathroom because… well she would learn if he was a pervert or not and she could hunt him down and kill him like the dog he was.

And low and behold, up in her air vent reveled by a little blinking light, was a camera…


	2. Chapter 2

Kaji grumbled about the stupid angle these first year spies set up from a rooftop across the street. You could barely make out anything through the window even after digital enhancement. Kaji wondered what the blinking light in the bathroom was though. Maybe an LCD clock or something. Oh well.

He pulled up the evidence before him. She was in her house most of the night (verified by video) and left during the time the murders were taking place (also verified by video) and returned with a nice red stain on her shirt (smudged though the image was... it could have been juice). Kaji felt this was enough evidence to book her and test her for supernatural elements. He sent out the order.

Within the hour a local North City Police car would pull up to her front door and take her in.

She knew it! Knew it! Knew it! Knew it! That guy was watching her and he was a pervert! Some cop!

'I'll kill the fucker for this,' Shay growled in loathing at the pervert. Maybe he was still at the library with that huge nasty troll… She ripped out the camera from her vent and tore it into pieces with her bare hands, 'Teach him to spy on me…'

Shay got ready to leave again on a different type of mission this time and this time, she thoroughly check the entire apartment for cameras and found two, one in a AC vent in her bedroom and one in her living room.

Unlike her normal attire when she left, this time she wore her hunting outfit, a long black jacket with a red shirt underneath as well as black pants and boots. She wasn't messing around this time.

"Tweedle Dee has left Wonderland. Repeat, Tweedle Dee has left Wonderland." The newish eagle eye spy reported over Kaji's cell phone.

"Just say the target is moving like a normal Tweedle Dum." Kaji moaned. "What is her bearing?"

"Tall and pushed back. Kind of perks up her..."

"Her direction you imbecile."

"Oh... North."

"North...?" Kaji waited for the rest of the response. None came. "North on what street? Where is she going? Information not generalizations."

"North down Acacia Avenue towards Davenport Lane."

"Remind me to reprimand you when I get back." Kaji hung up on the incompetent spy.

Where did they find these stupid people? Kaji hated stupid people.

"Ran! Who's on the Troll?" He called into the watch room.

Ran reported that Kaz had gone after the Troll. Kaji did felt safer knowing it was not the other way around with Ran going after it. He needed the Troll in one piece for questioning. Not in Ran's stomach.

"I'm going to the local precinct to see if they've picked up our target. She's mobile now."

He threw on his black trench coat and flipped up the collar. Time for the real business to come down.

Hairs on the back of her neck prickled again. She was tired of this, so very tired of being 'naïve'. She looked around and quickly spotted a… stalker? He was watching her but not very well. This wasn't the same man as the Pervert that she met that one night but she was not happy to be watched or followed by anyone.

Shay quickly appeared behind the stupid spy and put him in a headlock. She growled in a deep threatening growl, "Why are you watching me whelp." She tightened her grip on him ever so slightly to get a yelp out of him.

"I...I'm not at liberty to discuss what I...I am doing…" the spy replied, stumbling over his words in sheer terror. Shay gripped him even tighter digging in her nails and drawing blood.

"I'm not afraid to kill you whelp. Tell me what you are doing or I will find out some other way and just kill you."

The squad car pulled up outside Shay's apartment complex nice and quiet. The two officers exited their automobile with care. They were in no particular hurry but at the same time they did not want the perp to see them coming and escape out a back door or something. The elder male officer was in charge of this collar. His younger female companion was his muscle, buffed up from years of body building. His keen mind and cat like instincts combined with her physical presence and uncanny aim made them a deadly pair. They were on the prowl for a serial murderer. The murderer had slain her victims by savagely draining the blood from their bodies. It had been a slow and agonizing death for the victims. This perp was going down hard and would undoubtedly fry in the chair. It would be the crowning achievement of a life long career in the precinct. After this the officer could retire a hero of the city. Probably get a metal pinned to his chest for it by the mayor herself. Probably... not.

"Sergeant!" The young squad officer tried to warn the man. Tried to cover the distance between them fast enough. Tried to reach out and push him to safety. Tried but failed.

The two pound brick slid from its mortar from the rooftop and plummeted the four stories and impacted the man's head with lethal speed and force. His skull crunched like a melon under the impact. The younger officer stood horrified by the sudden death of her five year partner. The scuffle on the roof that had caused this would end with pain. She would see to that.

Shay heard a thud come from the ground and a terrified yelling from some female. She hadn't planned for others to get involved and really wished she didn't have to deal with so many people.

"So moron… Are you going to tell me or not… I'm in a hurry to kill a pervert who placed cameras in my house…" she growled a low menacing growl again just to get her point across to the boy.

"C…C…Can't… B… Breath!" The scout managed to choke out between labored breaths. "I…I'll talk…"

Letting go of his throat but quickly pinning the boy to the ground Shay finally had worn him down, "So what the hell are you doing watching me?"

Officer Wendy quickly called in the accident and raced into the dilapidated building. The tower was abandoned and condemned. With no power only the light from the windows illuminated the large rooms. Shadows danced across the floor in wavy patterns. She took her training to heart and let it consume her. Her finely honed reflexes reacted to sudden obstacles in the dark. She found the emergency stair well and began her four story accent.

Tropic the Frost Troll waited silently on the third floor. He smelled human meat on its way to him. As soon as Wendy's head appeared he buried his blunt hand axe into her skull and let the body fall where it would. He licked his axe clean and climbed the last story of steps towards his pray.

A horrific smell came from the stairs and Shay knew that she had company. 'Shit... What is it now?!?' She let go of the boy and warned him, "If you know what's good for you, you better get far away from here." And with that she jumped off the abandoned building to the street below.

Shay knew that she had to find out what was happening, there was more going on than she knew about and that was never a good place to be. She would find the pervert that put a camera in her bathroom and take care of him then she would find out why there was a squad car in front of that building...

Tropic slinked up the last stairs to the emergency exit leading out onto the roof. Hachette in hand he kicked the door off its hinges and stalked outward. He knew the girl was up here. He could smell her. Lovely pheromones. The ugly troll licked his cracked lips in anticipation. She would be the best meal he'd had in a long time.

"Lookie lookie girlie. Tropic's got a nice present for ya. Come and get a taste o' me mojo."

Shay looked back up on the roof top, the troll was up there alright and that stupid boy didn't run like she told him too. Letting her senses drift out farther, she could smell human blood from the front of the building and inside.

'God that troll is going on a hunting spree. I can't let him murder more people...' She growled at her own morals but none the less, went up to fight the repulsive troll.

"I guess I'll have to put the Pervert farther down my list troll," Shay growled at the sickening beast, "Your next."

"Tropic's gonna eat you up little girlie. He gonna enjoy ravishing you and pulling off your weak little joints." The troll was salivating at the thought. "Him get tired of just watchin' ya on da camera. Him gonna take what him want now. Weak little human."

He brought up the bloody axe ready to start swinging.

"WHAT!!!" Shay roared at the troll, "You are the Pervert??" She staggered back in absolute astonishment. 'How... when... A troll?' Gaining back her composer, Shay prepared to murder the troll-pervert. She charged toward him making sure to avoid his bloody axe.

She ripped into his side with her deadly claws and jumped on the trolls back, digging her claws into his flesh.

Tropic was somewhat overwhelmed. She was fast. REALLY FAST. Far faster than a human girly should be. Tropic ignored the gaping wound in his side. It would heal soon. Troll regeneration was off the charts. He could not let the girl stay on his back for long though. How was he going to bite her back there?

"Tropic likes you, girlie. Got lots o' spunk." He spat.

He thrusted backward and slammed the girl into the brick wall beside the broken door frame. He grinned at the sound of flesh on stone crunching. One of life's simple pleasures.

"Ugh..." Shay groaned as she slowly staggered up, she was sure she broke something but hopefully it would heal soon and it didn't hurt that much. This troll wasn't a pushover like she assumed it was going to be.

"Thanks for the compliment..." she let her wilder side take a little more control and sprung up in the air, coming down she sliced the trolls right arm off with a simple slice.

Shay wasn't about to lose this fight.

Tropic howled in rage. That was his favorite arm. It did all his favorite things. Like disemboweling people.

"Tropic's gonna make ya pay for dat one, little tootsie pop."

Tropic pulled out his skinning dagger from his belt with his left hand and grinned at the girl. In a flash he threw it at her and charged in behind it.

Shay quickly snatched the dagger out of the air, but it still nicked her shoulder which sent her into a rage. All the blood going around was making her light-headed and she was having a hard time fighting. She again jumped on the trolls back and bit his neck with ravaged hunger.

Tropic's blood raged with berzerking fury. He reached up with his newly grown right arm and flung the girl as hard as he could at the edge of the roof. This girl had just gone from fun to food.

"Tropic going to gut you~!" He yelled...

Then he saw the male meat bag huddled just within arm's reach... Now he had a human shield.

"Damnit!" Shay cursed, she hadn't noticed that the boy was still there, he never ran like she told him too. She sighed and tried to think of a way to kill the troll without hurting the spy, even though just a little while ago, she was the one that was going to kill him.

Pulling out her other knife she had hidden in her boot she braced herself from an oncoming attack.

It was time for a quick snack. After all, she had taken a good chunk out of Tropic's neck and made him regenerate a whole arm. Tropic snapped the man's neck like a toothpick and bit out the side of his neck. The squirming body proved an effective projectile. He flung the dead form at the girl, knowing it would miss her and likely fly over the edge of the building.

It was just a distraction. He shifted his weight onto his left leg and jumped in the direction he guessed she would dodge.

The gunshot barely registered before the bullet made a nice clean hole through his skull.

"Regenerate THAT." Kaji said.

Shay gasped and fell to her knees. Her whole goal of not running was to save the boy. She failed. Her breath hitched as she crawled over to the side of the building to look, she knew he was dead but she had to make sure.

She saw him laying in a pool of his own blood and she knew his life was over. Shay hated people having to die.

"Thank you." she said barely above a whisper. If she couldn't even save one life, was she really just bad to this world?

"Well I'm glad you're alright." Kaji said.

He pulled out a short sword from a sheath on his back and sliced off the troll's head.

"Head shot or no, got to make sure he doesn't regenerate."

He pulled out a small tin container and poured about half a gallon of gasoline over the body. A simple match did the rest of the work. The body would smolder long enough to prevent any cellular regeneration.

"A clean up team is down there for the mess he made of the first officer. I think they'll pick up Agent Dan too. Poor guy really. His first solo assignment."

He held out his hand to Shay.

"His... His... first?" Shay gasped in between sobs. "This is all my fault. The troll was after me, not him." God did she feel bad. Never before had anyone died because of her that wasn't a criminal. She grabbed the Lexus guys hand and tried to regain her composer.

"Two police officers died as well I think. One's out front and the other is somewhere inside. The troll might have gotten to them." Shay offered as help. She didn't want to be on this guy's bad side she could tell.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." He pulled the girl to her feet. "The troll is in my..."

He paused for a minute to wonder how she knew Tropic was a troll. It was possible he had told her during the fight though.

"Anyway it's over now. This guy has a blood fetish it seems. Was letting his victims bleed to death and gnawing off parts of them. Found a dozen bodies just like Dan's down there. Looks like he was overly fond of you though. Creepy. Yes I was spying on you. I honestly thought you were behind the murders. Do you mind coming down town to answer a few questions? Then we'll let you go home and rest."

Shay froze, she hoped whoever this guy was didn't know what she was. "Um, sure." She mumbled quietly, "What kind of questions?"

'I have to be careful of this guy...' Shay thought to herself, 'He can't catch on. That would be bad...'

"Just the usual post investigation sort... hold on, I have to take this." Kaji grabbed his cell phone.

"Yeah and thanks for the tip about Tropic. Think we closed two cases in one. The girl? Yeah she's right here."

"Me? What about me?" Shay was nervous; they were all getting to close to her secret. Although... All the people she killed were being blamed on the troll. This could work toward her benefit.

"Ok, I'll come." She inwardly smirked, what better way to hide things than behind a person's back?

"What about bugs? BUGS? You want me to check out BUGS? How can bugs be demonic?" Kaji was ranting at the phone.

"Hang on a second." He turned to Shay. "Rain check. Something's come up. Check in with the clean up team down below."

"BUGS!?" He said again before hanging up.

He glanced at the girl and shook his head. Took some kind of girl to stand up to a troll and survive. They would have to keep an eye on her from time to time.

Shay snorted, same guy as before, arrogant and rude, "Whatever you say...What did you say your name was?"

"Hm? Oh right. Here" Kaji handed the girl a card. "That's my info. Give it to the crew down there and they will take care of you. I've got business to attend to. Take care."

Kaji turned and exited the roof via the bloody stair well. The cleanup crew was already evacuating Officer Wendy's nearly decapitated body and hosing down the crime scene. Kaji felt bad for just a moment. These two officers died for no reason and their family and friends would never know the real story. Not that anyone would believe a troll had killed them... but the flash of emotion passed as fast as it came.

Kaji was back to business as usual.

Shay looked at the business card that he had given her, "Kaji..." She said with a tone of disgust but... admiration. He wasn't a gentleman but he was charming in a dark and melodramatic way.

"Kaji told me to give you to this," Shay told the cleanup crew as she got to the bottom of the steps. "He told me you would 'Take care' of me?" They questioned her and then let her go on her way.

In the end, nothing really changed for Shay besides the knowledge that Kaji existed and that they would see each other again very soon, that and trolls had a fondness for her. She didn't know which was more frightening. But for now, Shay decided that she would just go back to normal living until something else happened that she needed to deal with.

That and, of course feeding whenever opportunity showed itself...


End file.
